


Coffee

by whisperingink



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Gen, science bros for life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-02
Updated: 2012-06-02
Packaged: 2017-11-06 16:12:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/420814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whisperingink/pseuds/whisperingink
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You know me and coffee, Tony,” Bruce sighed, pushing the cup away, “We don’t exactly get along.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coffee

Bruce groaned, noting that he’d fallen asleep on top of a stack of science journals. Some were in Japanese, others in French, and he was pretty sure there was a Malaysian one mixed into the mess. When he reached up to touch his face, he noted that there was probably some text inked on his face from the easily smudged paper. The pages crumpled as he lifted his head from the desk, releasing his grip on the arc reactor. Well, it definitely wasn’t an arc reactor, yet, but a stack of very detailed plans that laid…scattered all along the table. He thumped his head back on the table, cursing himself for declining a cup of tea earlier, for that would’ve kept him awake. Or, at least, it would’ve kept him from tossing papers about in his sleep. 

“Well, fuck,” he muttered, running a hand through the bird’s nest on top of his head. Nat’s going to laugh at how fluffy I am again, he thought, remembering how she and Clint had poked at his rather…voluminous hair. Bruce still felt too distracted by the mess before him to grin at the memory though, wondering how he could get everything back in order before falling asleep again. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you swear before.” Bruce normally would’ve jumped in his seat at the sudden voice, but Tony surprised him often enough in the lab that it didn’t bother him anymore. He still remained the only Avenger allowed to sneak up on Bruce without risking a severe verbal assault from Fury or Agent Hill. Clad in pajamas (well, half-clad, but one had to practically threaten Tony to make sure he didn’t just wander around the tower naked), Tony sat a mug of dark, strong-smelling liquid next to Bruce’s head. Coffee. 

“You know me and coffee, Tony,” Bruce sighed, pushing the cup away, “We don’t exactly get along.” Tony winced at Bruce’s refusal, taking a swig of the drink and sighing at the taste. 

“I have to tell you, Bruce, if I were you I’d be more disturbed by the inability to drink coffee than the fact that I could easily destroy entire cities.” Tony downed the rest of the coffee in one gulp, making Bruce wince. Even when he’d been able to drink coffee, it definitely hadn’t been his beverage of choice, at least not without something to take the bitter edge off. 

“Ooh, what’s this?” Tony asked, his attention span, or lack of, causing him to ignore the coffee in favor of the many pages of notes and diagrams spread across Bruce’s wide desk, built by the genius billionaire playboy philanthropist himself, specially for his ‘science bro.’ He couldn’t keep a dopey grin from crossing his face every time he remembered that. But he still lunged to keep Tony from plucking a piece of paper from the table. However, a lethargic Bruce couldn’t keep up with a caffeine-charged man child. 

“What’re you tinkering with an arc reactor for? Ooh, are you thinking about getting an upgrade? Gotta tell you, it’s a pain, but also pretty sweet. Or maybe SHIELD’s trying to get you to design them some? Cause that’s kinda bad of you in my opinion ooh I like this shape right here it makes everything glowy-er-“

“Of course I wouldn’t give away your tech secrets to SHIELD!” Bruce insisted, snatching the paper back from Tony, ignoring the headache festering in the back of his brain. The fact that his friend was currently resting his arms atop his head wasn’t helping the pain in the slightest. With a sigh, he looked up at Tony and poked the glowing device in his chest.

“I remembered you telling me that your reactor came out a little worse for the wear after that big battle last week. I’m just tinkering with various ways to keep Iron Man alive and fighting. So, I designed-well, if I can find the paper-a way for it to absorb the shock taken in battle and use it to keep the suit powered for even longer…why are you smiling at me like that?” Tony looked down at him with the stupidest grin Bruce had ever seen on a man’s face before. His friend planted a messy kiss on his forehead, complete with a ‘mwah!’ noise. 

“Did I ever tell you how glad I am to have a man who speaks my kind of English? I’m pretty sure I have. Ah well, can’t be too appreciative of a fellow genius, especially one that’s just enhancing my own genius. Aw man, I would definitely kiss you if it didn’t mean Steve would crush your skull. Brilliant, Brucie!” Bruce groaned at the onslaught of Tony noise, massaging his temples and slumping over his desk once more. To his surprise, Tony latched onto his arm and began dragging him out of the lab.

“I’m gonna sound like Pepper or Maria or whoever is in charge of making sure the geniuses get enough sleep this week, but you need to recharge that brain of yours. Bright and early tomorrow, Bruce, we’ll be down here working on that reactor all week. Maybe we can extend the shock redirection to other gadgets. Do you think Steve would let me tinker with his shield?”

“Only if you pried it from his cold, dead hands,” Bruce mumbled, leaning into Tony’s shoulder. Tony continued to babble as the two walked up to Bruce’s room. Once his caffeinated peer started talking about Natasha redirecting shock into boob lasers or something along those lines, Bruce completely tuned him out.

“Anyways, I’ll see you in the morning. Night!” And before Bruce could even recognize where he was, Tony was gone and he was falling into bed.

“JARVIS,” Bruce groaned, rolling over onto a soft pillow.

“Yes, sir?” the AI responded.

“Ration Tony’s coffee for the next week. We all could use some sleep.”


End file.
